OAKLAND — Kyrie Irving curled around a high screen from Tristan Thompson as the Warriors’ Klay Thompson followed in dogged pursuit.

Irving, the Cleveland Cavaliers stellar point guard, jumped to a stop as he took the handoff, drew contact from the Warriors’ Thompson and hit a double-clutched 3-pointer as he fell to the ground. He knocked down the free throw to complete a four-point play.

And that ridiculous, near-impossible, highlight-reel shot was the extent of the baskets Thompson allowed during the Warriors’ Game 1 victory in which he once again proved just how elite of a defensive player he is.

The Cavaliers attempted 11 other shots with Thompson defending. Irving finished 1 of 5 (he was 9 of 17 without Thompson around). Kevin Love was 0 for 4. LeBron James missed both of his attempts and J.R. Smith missed one too.

It was a virtuoso defensive performance that for the discerning basketball eye easily overshadowed his own 3 of 16 effort from the field.

“I obviously could’ve shot the ball much better,” Thompson said on a media teleconference Friday. “Hopefully I’ll make a few more of those on Sunday. Could’ve probably won by 30, I guess. But if we have that same defensive effort collectively, we’ll be really tough to beat.”

That collective defensive effort saw the Cavs shoot just 34.9 percent as team, well below their postseason average of 49.5 percent that’s tied with the Warriors for the league’s best.

But Thompson was other-worldly from the opening tip and remained that way despite his struggles at the other end.

Here’s a closer look at his night:

— On the Cavaliers first possession, Thompson gets switched on to Love, who catches with nine seconds left on the shot clock. Love struggles to find any breathing room to shoot before air-balling a 16-foot jumper.

— Two possessions later, Irving attacks and tries to drive. Thompson stays with him and forces Irving to miss a tough left-handed shot. The next time down the court, Thompson flashes out on Love who can’t connect on a 3-pointer. After a loose ball foul following the Love miss, Irving gets a look from just outside the free-throw line that Thompson again contests and it leads to another miss.

Klay Thompson made life difficult for Kevin Love and the Cavaliers. (Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group)

— Midway through the first quarter, Thompson again gets switched on to Love and bodies him up. Love is forced to attempt a turnaround jumper that goes off the front of rim. An active first quarter continues when Thompson locks on to J.R. Smith on the left wing. Smith drives on Thompson and is hounded before eventually flipping up an off-balance, contested shot that misses as Smith hits the floor.

— With 7:45 left in the second quarter and the Warriors having pulled ahead 41-34, Irving tries to knock down a 20-foot pull up jumper. Thompson gets a hand up and the shot goes off the front of the rim as Cleveland drops to 0 for 8 against Thompson.

— The one bucket the Cavs get finally comes with 4:46 to play in the second as Irving makes the circus 3 to convert the four-point play. About a minute later, Thompson gets a steal when James tries to drive and kick to Irving. He intercepts the pass and ends up feeding to Durant for a dunk for a 55-45 lead.

— By the third quarter, the Cavs have essentially stopped attacking Thompson. He closes out on a Love 3 that he misses and gets switched on to James as he comes up short on a long 3 attempt. Thompson then shows great defensive hustle when he chases down Irving on a fast break to help Zaza Pachulia and the two contest his layup attempt that misses. James tries driving on Thompson once early in the fourth quarter but can’t overcome his harassing defense to get it to fall and the Cavs finish up at 1 for 12 against the three-time All-Star.

The stat sheets make it easy for players and fans to track offensive numbers. An outing like this one doesn’t translate as well, but Thompson acknowledged that he’s always aware of how in tune he is defensively.

“Yeah, you’re aware of it during the game,” he said. “I think in the game I’m just trying to play possession by possession, but it’s something I did take notice after the game.”

Efforts like Thompson’s is what makes the Warriors unique. Not only do they possess offensive superstars like Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant — and quite often Thompson is in that same boat — but they’ve got standout versatile defenders like Thompson and Draymond Green who take pride in it. And Thompson was in no pouting mood despite scoring just six points for the third time these playoffs.

“If I score six points a game and it gets us four wins and an NBA championship, I can do that every year,” he said. “I’m not about getting these gaudy stats. At the end of the day, if you win the last game, you had a great season. And that’s our goal. That’s what we come to expect every year now. It’s a great position to be in.”

Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob, general manager Bob Myers, coach Steve Kerr, assistant coach Mike Brown and forward Draymond Green talked to The Bay Area News Group about what it will take for the Warriors to have long-term success.